Device for bending, cutting and extracting the bone nails, nailplates, and the like



Nov. 9, 1954 E, J. HABousH 2,693,798

DEVICE FOR BENDING, CUTTING AND EXTRACTING THE BONE NAILS, NAILPLATES,AND THE LIKE Flled Aprll 23, 1951 2 Sheets-Sheet l WY. l

DBWH

Nov. 9, 1954 E L HABOUSH 2,693,798

DEVICE FCR BENDING, CUTTING AND EXTRACTING THE BONE NAILS, NAILPLATES,AND THE LIKE Filed April 25, 1951 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR. EDWARD J.HABOUSH BY MLM-Mrawm HIS ATTORNEYS.

United States Patent O DEVICE FOR BENDING, CUTTING AND EX- TRACTING THEBONE NAILS, NAILPLATES, AND THE LIKE Edward J. Haboush, Brooklyn, N. Y.

Application April 23, 1951, Serial No. 222,398

8 Claims. (Cl. 12S-83) This invention relates to surgical instrumentsand more particularly to improvements in devices for bending, cuttingand extracting bone nails, nail plates and the llke used for thefixation of fractures.

Heretofore, the devices for bending bone nails, nail plates and the likehave consisted of metal brakes whlch are operated manually. Inasmuch asthey are usually mounted on a bench or stand, they are not adapted to beused after the nail or nail plate has been driven into or atxed to thebone.

When it is necessary to cut a nail or a nail plate to a desired length,conventional manually operated metal shears have been used. Such shearsare inconvenient to use when the nail has been driven partially into thebone and even when the nail is free because of the thickness andstrength of such nails.

In my copending application Serial No. 130,253, led November 30, 1949now Patent No. 2,590,532, granted March 25, 1952 I have disclosed animproved form of nail bending device which greatly facilitates thebending and insertion of bone nails and the like. My prior na1l bendingdevice marks a considerable advance over the prior manually operatedbrakes but it is not a complete answer to all of the problems ofbending, cutting, extracting and impacting encountered by the surgeon 1nthe fixation of fractures with nails, nail plates and the like.

The present invention is an improvement over the device shown in myPatent No. 2,590,532 in that it embodies, in one compact and easilyhandled instrument, all of the mechanism necessary for cutting,extracting and bending bone nails and nail plates and makes possible allof these operations either while the nail or nail plate is free or afterit has been partially inserted in or iixed to the bone.

More particularly, the new device includes a casing having nail holdingor gripping elements thereon which position a nail or nail plate so thatan abutment member or a shear member on a power driven carriage movablein the casing can bend or cut the nail or nail plate at any desiredpoint. Moreover, a nail driven into a bone can be extracted by grippingit in a vise on the casing of the instrument and projecting the carriageagainst the bone or body member so that the casing is forced away fromthe body member carrying the nail with it.

The various elements making up the new instrument are arranged incompact and convenient form and the instrument is operated by means of amotor-driven ilexible shaft so that it can be used in any positionrequired for the operations referred to above.

For a better understanding of the present invention, reference may behad to the accompanying drawings in which:

Fig. 1 is a plan view of the top of the instrument embodying the presentinvention;

Fig. 2 is a plan View of the bottom of the instrument;

Fig. 3 is a view in end elevation of the instrument;

Figs. 4 and 5 are views in side elevation of one end of the instrument;

Fig. 6 is a view in longitudinal section taken on line 6--6 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 7 is a view in section taken on line 7--7 of Fig. l;

gig. 8 is a view in section taken on line 8 8 of Fig. 1; an

Fig. 9 is a view in section taken on line 9-9 of Fig. 2.

The form of the invention chosen for purposes of illustration isespecially adapted to be operated by means of ICC a power driven, exibleshaft of conventional type. It will be understood, however, that thedevice may be provided with a self-contained electric motor or otheroperating means.

As shown in Figs. l and 2, the instrument includes a casing 10 having acylindrical portion 11, and at its opposite end a generally rectangularcasing portion 12. The casing sections 11 and 12 are hollow and serve tohouse a carriage 13 and a drive mechanism 14 for bending, shearing andextracting nails N, shown in dotted lines in Figs. l, 2, 3, 6 and 8. Thecarriage 13 is generally cylindrical in cross section as shown in Fig. 3and has a notch or slot 15 wider than a nail N extending inwardly fromits left-hand end, as viewed in Fig. 6. The carriage 13 is received in asemi-cylindrical bore 16 in the generally rectangular block 17 whichforms the upper portion of the casing section 12. The block 17 may beintegral with or fixed to the casing section 11. The bore 16 is open atits lower side and the open side of the bore is closed by means of aplate 18 secured to the block 17 by means of screws 19, 20 or the like.The carriage 13 has a flat surface on one side which engages the plate18 and prevents the carriage from rotating.

The carriage 13 is slidable lengthwise of the bore 16 and can be movedin either direction by means of the drive mechanism 14. This mechanismincludes a threaded shaft 21 secured to the inner end of the carriage 13=by means of a set screw 22. The shaft 21 is in threaded engagement witha nut-like member 23 within the casing section 11, the member 23 havinglaterally extending sleeve bearings 24 and 25 which are mounted in theroller bearings 26 and 27 carried within the casing section 11. The nutmember 23 also has a worm gear 28 formed around its periphery, this gearmeshing with the worm 29 which extends transversely of casing section 11and has a supporting shaft rotatably mounted in the side walls of ahousing 30 extending below the casing section 11. As shown in Figs. 1, 2and 3, one end of the worm shaft 31 is squared as at 32 for engagementin the chuck or coupling 33 on the end of a liexible shaft which may bedriven by a reversible electric motor or the like. Thus, as the shaft 31is rotated, the threaded member 23 is rotated in one direction or theother and causes the shaft 21 and the carriage 13 to move to the rightor the left as may be required.

As shown in Fig. 6, the casing section 11 which houses the drivemechanism 14 may be made up of a generally cup-shaped inner section 34which receives the bearing 26, an outer cup-shaped section 35 whichreceives the bearing 27 and a ring member 36 interposed between thecup-shaped sections 34 and 35 and held in assembled relation therewithby means of the screws 37, 38 and so forth. The ring member 36 carriesthe housing 30 in which the worm 29 is mounted.

Inasrnuch as the shaft 21 is relatively long and extends beyond the endof the cup-shaped section 35, the latter may be provided with a tubularextension 39 enclosing and concentric with the shaft 21 and `carrying onits outer end a rubber cap or tip 40 which serves as an impactor.

As shown in Fig. 6, a roller 42 is rotatably mounted on a shaft 43extending across the notch 15 near its upper, outer end. The shaft 43 issupported by the side members 44 and 45 of the carriage on oppositesides of the slot 15. The roller 42 serves as one element of a nailbending brake. The cooperating part of the nail bending brake includes apair of jaw members 46 and 47 which extend outwardly beyond theleft-hand end of the casing section 12 at the underside thereof. The jaw47 may be formed as an integral part of the plate 18, and as shown inFigs. l and 2, is generally L-shaped in plan view to engage theoutermost ange at one edge of the nail N. The jaw 46 has an outer endportion which is a mirror image of the jaw portion 47. The jaw 46 ishingedly or pivotally mounted to enable the nail N to be insertedbetween or removed from the jaws 46 and 47. As shown in Fig. 2, the jaw46 has a long body portion or arm 48 terminating in a rounded endportion 49 through which a screw 50 extends into the plate 18 to securethe jaw 46 in position with capacity for rocking movement toward andaway from the jaw Patented Nov. 9, 1954v 47. Torelieve the screw 50 ofshearing stresses, the arm 48 of the jaw 46 is provided with aV notch 51which receives a lug 52 integral with the plate 18. As shown in Fig. 2,the jaw 46 tits in a complementally shaped recess 53 in the underside ofthe plate 18.

To enable the jaws 46 and 47 to be brought into close proximity to abody member or` a bone in which the nail N is imbedded, the end surfacesof the jaws may be beveled at 55 as shown in Fig. 6.

Thejaw* 46 may be retained in closed position by means vof a bolt orlatch member 56 which is slidably' mounted in a lateralextension or boss57 on the side of the casing-section 12. The boss57 may be integral withthe casing block` 17. The boss abuts-against a plate 58 which overliesVthe top of the casing section 12 and is secured thereto by means of thescrews 59. The inner edge of the plate 58 is provided with teeth .orserrations 60 for a purpose to be described. rIhe latch or bolt 56 isurged into overlapping relation to the outer edge of the body 48 of thejaw by means of a coil spring 61 mounted in a bore 462 in the boss 57.The end of the bore 62 is covered by the plate 58. The bolt or latch 56can be retracted by means of a headed pin- 63 having its inner end fixedto the bolt and projecting through. an, elongatedslot'64 in the boss 57.

In the operation of the nail bending device, the carriage 13 may beretracted to the position shown in fulllines in Fig. 6. The nail N isthen gripped between the jaws 46 and 47 so that one part of it extendsfreely across the open end of the bore 16 in the casing section 12. Theupper outer edge of the casing section may be provided with a notch 65to aid in aligning the nail with the notch or slot 15 in the carriage13.

The exible shaft 33 is then set into operation in a direction to movethe carriage 13 to the left as viewed in Fig. 6. The carriage advancesslowly because of the gear reduction afforded by the drive mechanism 14and the roller 42 engages the inner face of the nail and forces the nailover the inner edges of the jaws 46 and 47 which serve as a bendingfulcrum. The nail can be bent almost 90 depending upon the spacingbetween the undersurface of the roller 42 and the upper surface of thejaws 46 and .47. Thereafter the direction ofpthe motor or the ilexibleshaft can be reversed and the roller backed off to free it fromengagement with `the nail N. The latch or bolt S6 may then be retractedto release the jaw 46, thereby releasing the nail N. Swinging movementof the jaw 46 may be facilitated by means of a spring 66 mounted in aninclined bore 67 in the plate 18 and bearing against theinner edge ofthe arm 48 adjacent to the notch 51.

The instrument is also constructed and arranged tol cut the nails N. Asshown in Figs."l, 2, 6 and 8, the top of the casing section 12 isprovided with an opening 70 and the bottom plate 13 is provided with asmaller opening 71 which rits the nail N closely. The opening 7G may beof the same size as the opening 71 although its size is not important,as long as it is large enough to receive the nail N.

The under surface of the carriage 13 is provided with a recess 72 havinga shoulder 72a to engage the back 73 of a shear blade 74 which has atriangular shearing portion 75 provided with beveled cutting edges 76.lAs shown in Figs.6 to 8 the shear blade 74 rests onthe upper surface ofthe plate 18 so that as the shear blade advances from the full lineposition shown in Fig. 6 to the dotted line position, it will punch andcut the nail at `a plane at the upper surface of the plate 18. The powerdeveloped even with a small motor is suicient to shear a heavy nailformed of stainless steel vand the like because of the great gearreduction provided in the drive mechanism 14.

The carriage 13 may alsol be used for extracting a nail which has beendriven into a bone. To this end, the upper surface or top of the casingmember 12 is provided With a pivoted jaw or visev element 77 which issupported at its inner end by means of the screw 78. The jaw member 77has one or more teeth 79 thereon opposing the teeth 60 on the plate 58.The plate 58 and the member 77 form the jaws of a vise which can beforced togethed to grip a nail N as shown in dotted lines in Fig. l. Thejaw 77 may be held in closed position by4 means of a pivoted lever 80supported on the side of the casing section 12 by means of the screw 81.The lever` '80 has-,av camming surface 82 engageable with the outeredgev of :the jaw 77 andanextended :arm

, 4 83 provided with a knob 84 by means of which considerablel force canbe exerted to close the jaws 77 and 60;

With the nail end gripped between the jaws 77 and 58, the carriage 13may beprojected beyond the outer ends of the jaws 46 and 47 to engagethe bone or body member into which the nail has been inserted. As thecarriage 13 advances, it forces the casing 10 and the nail axed to itaway from the body member so that the nail is fully or partiallywithdrawn.

The shaft'21 is long enough to enable a substantial projection of thecarriage beyond the outer ends of the jaws 46 and 47 so that the nailmay be drawn out a substantial distance without the need for releasingand reengaging the nail repeatedly during the extracting operation.

Opening of the jaw 46 may be facilitated by means of a pin 84 thereonwhich extends into a slot 85 in the top of the casing section 12 and isengaged by a coil spring 86 in the slot as shown in Figs. l and 7.

The instrument described above may form one unit of a kit of instrumentswhich may be driven by the ilexible shaft referred to above. It is madeof va convenient size for manipulation and of materials such asstainless steel which are resistant to oxidation or rusting and whichmay be sterilized like any other surgical instrument. The instrument maybe readily disassembled for cleaning with a minimum number of tools anda minimum amount of skill.

It will be understood that the instrument is susceptible to variation insize and appearance and that it may be readily adapted to receive nails,nail plates and the like of various Vsizes by suitably shaping the jawsof the instrument and varying their spacing. Therefore,

- the instrument disclosed herein should be considered as illustrativeof the invention and not as limiting the scope of the following claims.

I claim:

l. A device for bending bone nails, plates and the like comprising ahollow casing, a carriage slidably mounted in said casing for movementlengthwise therein, a pair of relatively movable holding jaws at one endof said casing, means to move said jaws relatively toward each other togrip and releasably hold an article to be bent with a portion of thearticle projecting from said jaws transversely across the end of saidcasing and substantially perpendicular to the direction of movement ofsaid carriage and in its path, and means to move said carriage towardsaid jaws to engage the outer end of said carriage with said portion tobend the latter away from said end of said casing and relative to theportion held by said jaws.

2. A device for bending bone nails, plates and the like comprising ahollow casing, a carriage slidably mounted in said casing for 'movementlengthwise therein, a pair of relatively movable holding jaws at one endof said casing to grip and releasably hold an article to be bent with aportion of thearticle projecting from said jaws transversely across theend of said casing and substantially l perpendicular to the direction ofmovement of said carriage and in its path, pivot means connecting one ofsaid jaws to said casing for relative pivoting movement to engage andrelease said article, a releasable latch to hold the last-mentioned jawin engagement with'said article, andmeans to move said carriage towardsaid jaws to engage the ouier end of said carriage with said portion tobend the latter away from said end of said casing and relative to theportion held by said jaws.

3. A device for cutting and bendingl bone nails, plates andthe likecomprising a hollowcasing, a carriage slidably mounted n said casing formovement lengthwise therein, a pair of relatively movable holding jawsat one'` end of said casing to grip and releasably hold lan article tobe bent with a portion of the article projecting from said jawstransversely across' the end of said casing and substantiallyperpendicular to the direction of movement of said carriage and in itspath, means to move vsaid carriage toward said jaws to engage the outerend of said carriage with said portion to bend the latter away'from saidend of said casing and relative to the portion held by said jaws, anopening through said .casing substantially perpendicular to the path ofsaid carriageto. receive an article to be cut, said carriage also havingan elon-y gated opening therethrough extendinglengthwi'se'ofsaidcarriage to receive said article freely; anda shear blade on saidcarriageY at oneendof said elongatedopening,

said shear blade being movable with said carriage to cut an articleextending through said openings.

4. A device for bending bone nails, nail plates and the like comprisingan elongated hollow casing, a carriage slidably mounted in said casingfor movement lengthwise thereof, a pair of relatively movable jaws atone end of said casing, said jaws being offset with respect to saidcarriage to grip and hold a portion of an article to be bent with a freeportion of the article extending across said one end of said casingsubstantially perpendicular to the direction of movement of saidcarriage, an abutment member on one end of said carriage engageable withthe free portion of said article, and means to move said carriage towardsaid jaws to engage said abutment member with said free portion andthereby bend the latter away from said end of said casing relative tothe portion held by said jaws.

5. A device for bending bone nails, nail plates and the like comprisingan elongated hollow casing, a carriage slidably mounted in said casingfor movement lengthwise thereof, a pair of relatively movable jaws atone end of said casing, said jaws being offset with respect to saidcarriage to grip and hold a portion of an article to be bent with a freeportion of the article extending across said one end of said casingsubstantially perpendicular to the direction of movement of saidcarriage, an abutment member on one end of said carriage engageable withthe free portion of said article to bend said free portion away fromsaid end of said casing and relative to portion held by said jaws whensaid carriage is moved, a threaded shaft xed to and extending from saidcarriage lengthwise of said casing, threaded means rotatably mounted insaid casing engaging said shaft to advance and retract it, and apower-driven member to rotate said threaded means.

6. A device for cutting and bending bone nails, nail plates and the likecomprising an elongated hollow casing, a carriage slidably mounted insaid casing for movement lengthwise thereof, a pair of relativelymovable jaws at one end of said casing, said jaws being offset withrespect to said carriage to grip and hold a portion of an article to bebent with a free portion of the article extending across said one end ofsaid casing substantially perpendicular to the path of said carriage, anabutment member on one end of said carriage engageable with the freeportion of said article to bend said free portion away from said end ofsaid casing and relative to the portion held by said jaws when saidcarriage is moved, a shear member mounted on said carriage for movementtherewith, means on said casing to receive and hold an article to be cutin the path of said shear member, and means to move said carriagelengthwise of said casing.

7. A device for cutting and bending bone nails, nail plates and the likecomprising an elongated hollow casing, a carriage slidably mounted insaid casing for movement lengthwise thereof, a pair of relativelymovable jaws at one end of said casing, said jaws being oifset withrespect to said carriage to grip and hold a portion of an article to bebent with a free portion of the article extending across said one end ofsaid casing substantially perpendicular to the path of said carriage, anabutment member on one end of said carriage engageable with the freeportion of said article to bend said free portion away from said one endof said casing and relative to the por tion held by said jaws when saidcarriage is moved, an opening through said casing to receive an articleto be cut, said carriage also having a slot extending lengthwise thereofto receive said article freely, a shear member xed to said carriageadjacent to one end of said slot to engage and cut the article extendingthrough said opening and slot, and power means to move said carriagelengthwise of said casing.

8. The device set forth in claim 4 including a manually operated' viseon the casing, adjacent to its said one end to grip a nail driven into abody member, said carriage being movable into engagement with said bodymember to exert pressure thereagainst and move said casing and vise towithdraw said nail from said body member.

References Cited in the le of this patent UNTTED STATES PATENTS NumberName Date 1,488,834 Robbins Apr. 1, 1924 1,631,872 Knight June 7, 19272,165,209 Baldanza July 11, 1939

